The topic of discussion was Desiree Washington, the beauty pageant contestant Tyson was convicted of raping in 1991, resulting in a 3 1/2-year prison stay for the former two-time undisputed heavyweight champ.

Since the incident, which occurred during the Indiana Black Expo at Indianapolis in 1991, Tyson has steadfastly maintained he was innocent of the rape charges.

Yet he told Van Susteren he wished he had raped Washington. And worse.

"She's a lying, monstrous young lady -- I just hate her guts," Tyson said. "She put me in that state of where, I don't know, I really wish I did it.

"But now, I really do want to rape her."

Those who compose Tyson's inner circle should see by now that this guy needs professional help. Now.

If they care about Tyson more than merely as a tool to rake in millions of dollars, they should drag him, if necessary, without delay in to be treated by a team of psychiatrists. At the very least, Tyson's handlers should keep him off TV, the radio and any other public conveyance.

Van Susteren, a longtime legal analyst, was conducting a retrospective piece about the rape incident, which took place in the wee hours of the morning in an Indianapolis hotel room. Her 40-minute taped interview with Tyson appeared on Fox's The Pulse last Thursday night.

Van Susteren was visibly shaken during the ordeal and took exception to Tyson's comment about wanting to rape Washington.

Tyson went on to say that he believes his feelings are justified because the trial, his conviction and subsequent jailing left him with an indelible stigma.

"Any (other) case, you can get your dignity back," Tyson told Van Susteren. "But rape? No dignity, buddy. I've got this stuff hovering over my head. Once you have that stuff, and if you are a decent person, it'll never come to the surface."

Tyson said he thought the original trial was unfair.

"Have another trial, and if I lose, I do my time again," he said.

Van Susteren pointed out that several potential defense witnesses were denied the privilege of testifying on technical grounds. That, Van Susteren said, may have denied Tyson any chance of going free on the basis of reasonable doubt.

That may be true, but it doesn't change the fact that Tyson obviously needs professional help.

Toney pays up

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Andrew Toney
, who won the IBF cruiserweight championship in April, has paid more than 103,000 for back child support after spending a couple of nights in Los Angeles County jail.

Toney had failed since 1999 to regularly pay child support to his 10-year-old daughter, who lives in the Detroit area.

The 34-year-old native of Ann Arbor, Mich., was arrested Tuesday in his adopted hometown of LA after the attorney general's office worked with Toney's ex-wife to find him.

Ali, the youngest daughter of former three-time world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, will defend her Women's International Boxing Association super-middleweight title against Valerie Mahfood. Mahfood, a former two-time world champion and the 2001 Boxer of the Year, is a native of Port Arthur.

Rijker, of Van Nuys, Calif., by way of Amsterdam, will take on Jane Crouch, another two-time former world champ.